Ethan Stanley, Heath Chapman and Will Brodie put their AFL experience on show, staying strong and defeating East Perth by 16 points at Rushton Park in Mandurah on Saturday.

Nine Fremantle listed players lined up to face the top team including Sam Sturt (one goal, ten disposals) and Ethan Stanley (20 disposals, five inside 50s) both playing their first game back from injuries.  

East Perth showed their dominance early in the first quarter kicking the first four goals of the day. 

Stanley proved a strong return from his ankle injury smothering the ball in the first quarter which led to Peel's first goal of the game, kicked by Sturt.  

Sturt’s first major of the season rejuvenated Peel, with their intensity lifting through midfield gun Will Brodie (23 disposals) who began to get clearance ascendency.

Peel struggled to get the ball moving against East Perth’s defence in the first half, but intercept marks from Chapman (eight marks, 16 disposals) helped them stay in the game at the end of the first quarter.

The Thunder slowed down East Perth’s potent ball movement in the second quarter, with Chapman showing his AFL qualities repelling off half back.

Nathan O’Driscoll didn’t go unnoticed with a clean ground ball and forward entry resulting in Peel’s second, bringing the margin back to under a goal at the halftime break. 

Missed opportunities were present in the third quarter with Peel struggling to get on top throughout. 

East Perth got off to a fast start kicking the first and the second of the quarter, pushing the lead out after Peel’s hard work to get back into the contest. 

A goal to Peel’s Johnathon Ietto created a scuffle that got the crowd going as the quarter ended with Peel 14-points down.

Jack Delean racked up 10 disposals, injecting energy into the fourth quarter with an impressive kick that led to a goal by Jack Sears.

East Perth’s backline began to struggle against the Thunder’s forward line with Peel kicking the first two of the last quarter bringing the lead to within a point.

As the energy built up, former Freo Docker Nathan Wilson kicked a quick snap on his left which gave Peel their first lead of the day and opened the game up for the Thunder. 

Midway through the fourth quarter, the excitement of the crowd escalated as Peel scored another goal, extending their lead by two goals, to the delight of the home fans. 

The Freo boys were on fire as a defensive one percenter by Hugh Davies (15 disposals, seven marks) stopped a certain goal with a smother, and Max Knobel (43 hit outs) began to throw his weight around. 

The Thunder’s defensive side proved too strong as East Perth failed to get a goal through. 

Wilson kicked one last goal from the boundary that put the game out of reach for the opposition as Peel took it home with a 16-point win.

Speaking post-match, Stanley shared his thoughts on the win and the thrilling fourth quarter comeback.

“This week we really attacked and took the game on, going through the corridor and playing our brand of footy again,” Stanley said.

Coming back from an ankle injury, Stanley reflected on his time in rehab making mention to his relationship with fellow Fremantle players Chapman and O’Driscoll.

“The Club has done really well with maintaining my injury,” he said.

“Obviously it’s not good to have an injury, but (doing rehab) with them two has made it more enjoyable than being by yourself.

“We all came back at similar times so it’s good to come out and really connect with each other and play good footy together.”

Looking onto next week against West Coast, Stanley was confident the boys could get the job done.

“We trust the way that we play and we’re going bring it next week to West Coast,” he said.

Peel Thunder will take on the West Coast Eagles next Saturday 20 April at Optus Stadium.

Peel Thunder: 1.2 3.4 5.5 10.9 (69) 
East Perth: 4.1 4.1 8.1 8.5 (53) 

GOALS
Peel Thunder: 3 N Wilson, 2 J Letto, C Tregenza, 1 S Sturt, J Sears B Wemm 
East Perth: 2 M Schofield, 1 S Van Diemen, S Hille, Z Hill, S Wright, C Ameduri, L Tedesco